There are any number of folks watching from the bank that are being told by the individual sitting the bait shop on the bank that this pond has all of the fish and really the only "real" fish. I am no fisherman, but I can tell when a pond has no fish. Sometimes you just have to keep pointing this out.

What are honorable remarks, what are less than honorable......most that are call "less than honorable remarks are the very fact that anyone would even question the validity of things that are said by an individual. If you get up on that soap box...you sure are open for it. Once you have declared your self the true representative of the true path...you are open for it....actually the comments have been quite mild all things considered........

I don't know how many of the upper tier of what you are calling Aikido leadership folks actually post here. None of the major organizational leaders do..... now they may drop in to read....or they may have their representatives post...don't know....

Why...you know why...so why do you bring it up I am still trying to figure out why I bother to post here myself.....I'll give you my approach to this....years ago at a gym I was ask by a women friend why I wasn't across the room hanging around a beautiful woman doing some lifting like about 10 or so other guys.....my reply was ...old dog young dog..... young dog runs along the fence and barks at everything that is close.....old dog waits until something falls into their yard......

It was simple, my message is that we all need to begin working on irenics and bigger issues. It is 1938 and a bad wind is about to blow. A Trifecta, if you will. nature will be declaring WWIII. The old paradigm of civilization is crumbling and that will lead to natural chaos. Finally, the "have's" will be protecting themselves against the "have nots" on a global scale. The have-nots, unless you are very rich, is you and me.

Integrity will be the real currency over the next 5-10 years. That does not mean I have impeccable integrity. It means we all will learn the hard way when we have choices to make regarding our families, neighbors, and our associates in the dojo. Who will we be able to rely on and who will share with us as we share with them?

Integrity will be the real currency when food is sparse, when lawlessness is rampant and when most are running amok seeking only to save themselves.

When folks in my neighborhood need something (most have no job or education), they often steal it or rob to get it. Some say morality is a middle class privelege. Soon we shall see.

With that, I bow out of this conference.

I thank everyone for what I have learned through this experience and am grateful for those who have befriended me off line. Should anyone wish to contact me, I can be reached at pylonjigme@gmail.com.